Need help for a first time $650-700 budget build.

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Voxr

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Aug 21, 2014
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Alright so in about a week or so I'm planning on purchasing my first budget gaming rig.
Here is my sort of first draft:http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TjGMMp

Anyway I plan on using this for some gaming and everyday stuff. The games I would like to play are BF4, Skyrim, WoW, Dragon Age Inquisition and AC: Unity at med-high settings at 1080p with at least staying above 30fps.

Will this pull it off? What could I do better and what do you guys suggest? Like I said I'm new to building a pc and I know $650-700 doesn't leave alot of options a higher budget would, but I'm just looking for some insight/advice for this build.

Thanks in advance!
 
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fooball
I got this from when I asked for my 1st build. https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AgN1D79Joo7tdE9xMUFlMEVWeFhuckJEVF9aMmtpUFE&gid=3
When I was looking at motherboards, I was considering the M5A97 LE too. The Asus m5a97 R2.0 is good. However, The m5a97 R2.0 is different from the m5a97 "LE" (I think LE means light) motherboard. The chart says that it is not as good as the gigabyte ga-970a-ud3p, the m5a97 R2.0, or the asrock 970 extreme 3. I did find that there was some kind of small problem with the asrock throttling when overclocking with 8 core processors. If you are going to be upgrading, then it would be a problem. So it looks like out of the 4, the ga-970a-ud3p, and the Asus M5A97 are the best, the asrock third ...
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Calnin

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I suggest getting a better motherboard. (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-970extreme3r20) at least this. One with some VRM coverage.

IF you need somewhere to mitigate the budget: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550sxxb9 <<< this power supply will still give the system enough powr.

Another option is to just go with a fx 6300, which is still a decent CPU, and get a better motherboard like the ud3p and overclock later.
 
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fooball

fooball

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This build saves some money on some parts, and has a better gpu (most important in gaming).
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($144.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Club 3D Radeon R9 270X 2GB '14Series Video Card ($169.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-I ID ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Thermaltake SMART 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $669.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-21 21:32 EDT-0400
 
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fooball

fooball

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In fact, this is slightly better. The ga-970a-UD3P motherboard is much better than the original msi one. The gpu is what matters most when it comes to gaming (I have a fx 6300, 16gb ram, and R9 270X, and when playing watch dogs at high settings, the r9 270x goes to 95% usage, and the cpu stays at 50%). I just chose one of the better looking cheaper cases, but thats just to get a overview of the price.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($108.00 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Club 3D Radeon R9 280X 3GB royalQueen Video Card ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-I ID ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Thermaltake SMART 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $682.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-21 21:36 EDT-0400

Update: The R9 280 is $199 if you want to go a bit cheaper.
 
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Voxr

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Thanks for the help guys!

I took your guys advice and switched out the CPU and motherboard for a AMD FX-6300 and the ASRock 970 as well as the GPU for a R9 270x. ( I also switched out the ram/harddrive/and case and added a wifi adapter I forgot I needed it.)

Here is the updated list:http://pcpartpicker.com/p/NVf4ZL

Thoughts?
 
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ruecklm14

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yeah thats a nice build.
 
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fooball

fooball

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I got this from when I asked for my 1st build. https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AgN1D79Joo7tdE9xMUFlMEVWeFhuckJEVF9aMmtpUFE&gid=3
When I was looking at motherboards, I was considering the M5A97 LE too. The Asus m5a97 R2.0 is good. However, The m5a97 R2.0 is different from the m5a97 "LE" (I think LE means light) motherboard. The chart says that it is not as good as the gigabyte ga-970a-ud3p, the m5a97 R2.0, or the asrock 970 extreme 3. I did find that there was some kind of small problem with the asrock throttling when overclocking with 8 core processors. If you are going to be upgrading, then it would be a problem. So it looks like out of the 4, the ga-970a-ud3p, and the Asus M5A97 are the best, the asrock third , and the M5A97 in last place.
If you are going to overclock alot, you should get a aftermarket cpu cooler.
 
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fooball

fooball

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If you are upgrading the ram in the future, you should get 1x8gb ram(up to 32gb ~without replacing ram). This patriot viper and corsair are 1x8gb. The corsair has a higher speed (ddr3-1833).
If you are not looking to upgrade ram much, this avexir and Gskill are good. Like your current ram, they are two sticks= 2x4gb (up to 16gb without replacing sticks). This means dual channel, so the ram works at 2 times the speed of 1x8gb (although the difference between single and dual channel is hardly noticeable). The difference is that those are ddr3 2166. They are much higher speed.
If you can buy used parts, you can save some money. From craigslist( :p not the best place to buy, I know), I bought 16gb (4x4gb) used ddr3-1600 ram for only $80 canadian + no tax, whereas if I bought 16gb new here, it would cost me $165 + 12% tax. I also bought a used 1tb hdd for $25, instead of $55+ 12%tax.
The parts which should be ok bought used (testing before buying is recommended) are: ram, hdd (may need to check for bad sectors and stuff), peripherals (I personally like new ones, especially considering the small price difference), case, and monitor.
 
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Voxr

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Thanks for help guys! I went ahead an decided to switch out the motherboard again to the Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P.

Anyway I think I'm gonna go ahead and get this build( I also switched out the ram) in the next few days:http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qn3n99

(never mind that cheapo keyboard my stupid cat pushed off and shattered my current one so I just needed a quick replacement)

Anyway I want to thank you guys again for the help. :)
 
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Voxr

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What would you suggest then?
 
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fooball

fooball

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This has alot of reviews, and most are good. If you want a PCI type, this is the best for the price. The Rosewill PCI one has some issues with the packaged software, so make sure you read the Newegg "most helpful" reviews before you start using it. If you have built in Ethernet in your house, you should use that (the mobo has built in ethernet).
Make sure you like your case. Other cases that I thought also look good are: Comrade, Thermaltake Commander Snow, Thermaltake Commander, CoolerMaster Elite, and Raidmax Atlas.
 
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fooball

fooball

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Voxr

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Hello folks sorry I haven't responded I've been busy lately.

Anyway I went ahead and ordered my parts:http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8rtZXL

I also changed the hard drive to the caviar blue so thanks Teemi for pointing that out to me.
I realize now I probably should have gone with a better power supply, but hindsight is 20/20. Hopefully it turns out ok.

The total come out to be about $45-50 more than my budget but I was able to pay it without breaking my bank. Thank you again for everyone's help.

 
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Voxr

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At the time the I bought the parts they were the same or a few dollars less than Newegg, I also have prime so I was able to get things alittle quicker too.
 
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emtguy

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I'm planning on using your build after doing months of research. Will save me some coins. Do me a favour and let me know how everything works out! Good job btw!

Did you not get an optical drive nor heatsink/cpu cooler?
 
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Voxr

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Hey! Here is my update.

Build is running very well. Had a little problem with updating and a crash but they were windows problems and easily fixed. I'm running Skyrim on high-med (no vis mods or ENB) and I'm getting about 60-62fps when running around and some dips into the high-mids 50s during some more intense battles but I'm still learning on tweaking stuff to get better performance. I haven't had time to get BF4 yet but I installed and played a quick match in BF3 and everything was running smooth( I didn't have fraps running so I don't know the exact fps but I'd wager high 50's-low 60's).

I didn't get a optical drive as I'm just using steam and GOG.com to get games and the few times I want to watch a DVD or need to install something off a physical disc I use a external optical drive.
I haven't got a aftermarket heat sink. And actually the stock one is running ok, but I do plan on getting one in the next few months.

Anyway it works for me. My games look good and run fine for what this machine can handle and is definitely a step up from my 360 and old computer :)

 
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fooball

fooball

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Make sure you get the best prices. The price fluctuate, so you may want to get a Asus R9 270X instead of MSI or i3 instead of amd fx.
 
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fooball

fooball

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What settings are you running BF3 at? My build with the R9 270X can get an ok fps at max (or at least high, I can't remember) on a 1080p monitor. If you haven't done already, make sure you install the latest drivers from the manufacturers websites.
 
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